São Paulo, the new capital of cuisine?!

Firstly, I apologise for the seriously lack of activity on here for the last few months. My last month in Brazil was super busy, working long hours while trying to cram teaching and everything that I should have done earlier in to my evenings and weekends. I definitely made the most of it though and returned to the UK exhausted but in time for Christmas.

Sushi making farewell dinner 

It sounds pathetic, but I haven't written anything until now as I have been trying to avoid thinking about the amazing friends that I had to leave behind. I loved my time in Brazil so so much and will definitely be heading back as soon as I can. I am hoping that once I graduate I will be able to live in SP for at least a few years if my job allows it.

Last day at the office, I look much happier than I felt

Anyway... Moving on

One of the things that surprised me about São Paulo (sorry Paulistanos) were the amazing restaurants. I would normally think of Paris, New York or maybe even San Sebastián as the culinary capital of the world but São Paulo is right up there and is definitely better value, especially as Brazilians do not normally go for small portion sizes!

Below are my favourite 10 restaurants I was lucky enough to visit in São Paulo. I would seriously encourage you to try as many of them as you can if you're stopping by! There is a complete mix from Italian to Japanese to Mexican and also something for every budget! 

1. Torta no Quintal, Itaim Bibi (http://www.tortanoquintal.com.br/) £
You would never discover this restaurant unless you lived in the neighbourhood. It is tiny, at the end of a row of shops and off the street in a sort of yard. It has a family feel, run by a couple who seem to know everyone. The pies are amazing (I would go for the chicken and goats-cheese) the fresh juice combinations are delicious, but the pièce de resistance was definitely the banana pie followed by coffee with chocolate for dessert. I would go to this restaurant every weekend if I could! 

Yuri looking smug with his goat's cheese and chicken pie...

The best coffee EVER

2. Le Manjue Organique, Vila Nova Conceição (http://www.lemanjuebistro.com.br/) £££
I was taken to this restaurant for a special farewell meal and it definitely didn't disappoint. Typical Brazilian flavours from the Amazon and the Northeast but with a modern twist and beautifully presented. I had Arroz Amazónico (Amazonian rice); delicious fish from the amazon with mixed colour rice and nuts. Definitely a great choice for special occasions!

My seriously yummy Amazonian fish dish

3. Pizza Margherita, Jardins (http://www.margherita.com.br/) ££
This was definitely my favourite pizza restaurant in São Paulo and I can assure you I tried lots! Brazilian pizza is different to Italian pizza. Tomato is rarely used as a base and they are usually thick-crust. My favourite topping is chicken and catupiry (a cheese from Minas Gerais state). Don't forget to try the homemade sangria, it went down far too easily with the pizza! 

4. Hecho en México, Itaim Bibi (http://hechoenmexico.com.br/) £
An authentic and very good value Mexican restaurant. Perfect for big groups, it would be an awesome place to have a party. The quesadillas were incredible but I would go back just for the iced margaritas! 

Underdressed like usual!

5. L'Entrecôte d'Olivier, Jardim Europa (http://www.bistroentrecote.com.br/) £££
I went to this restaurant while staying with friends on my first weekend in São Paulo and will remember it forever. I guess Chef Olivier could be described as the Brazilian Jamie Oliver. This restaurant just serves one dish, beautifully cooked steak and sauce, for which the recipe is a secret, with possibly the best french fries I have ever had, and they keep topping up your plate until you ask them not too, dangerous! There is also the most delicious chocolate mousse for dessert and I would highly recommend ordering their tangerine and ginger caipirinha! As my leaving present at work I was given his cookbook, so hopefully I will be attempting some of his recipes in my student kitchen in Bristol next year!

6. Cantina Famiglia Mancini, Bela Vista, (http://www.famigliamancini.com.br/) £££
In central São Paulo there is a street owned by a family of Italian immigrants, the Mancini family. There are lots of different restaurants on the street each owned by a different family member and each specialising in different things. We went for a drink in a bar owned by one of the cousins and then for dinner at the main Cantina owned by the parents. The restaurant was more authentically Italian than any restaurant I have ever been to in Italy, the portion sized were HUGE and it had the best atmosphere. It will be one of the first places I will go back to when I return to SP!

Mancini Street

Danilo, Rafael, Fellipe(with his napkin on his head!), Yuri and me!

7. Bien!, Itaim Bibi, http://www.restaurantebien.com.br/ ££
This was one of the most original restaurants I went to. The menu is organised in different character categories such as estressados (stressed) and namoradeiros (lovers) as the ingredients are meant to complement/improve your mood. I guess it's just a joke but it makes ordering fun, hearing the person next to you order "diabetic 2" or "hypertension 3". All the dishes are incredibly healthy but yummy and it is also great value.

8. Temakeria e Cia, Moema, http://temakeriaecia.com.br/ ££
There had to be at least one Japanese restaurant in this list. São Paulo has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan and consequently has a huge variety of Japanese restaurants. Temakeria e Cia is a chain with branches dotted all over the city. It has great atmosphere, fast service and, for Japanese food is good value, perfect for a weekday evening out. 

Yummmmmm

9. Galeto's, Itaim Bibi, http://www.galetos.com.br/ ££
A restaurant that principally serves roast chicken sounds pretty boring but this is anything but. You choose exactly how you want your chicken served; which sauce, with/without the bone etc... there is also the best salad selection I have ever seen, from delicious artichoke salad to quails' eggs with tarragon sauce. Simple food but perfectly executed and just right for a relaxed family Sunday lunch. 

10. Frutaria, Rua Oscar Freire, Jardins, http://www.frutariasaopaulo.com.br/ £££
As the name suggests this restaurant's aim is to make healthy food delicious, and it definitely does. You would have to go everyday for months to run out of juices to try, from detox shakes to exotic smoothies it has every combination you could think of. The fresh baguettes and wraps also made a welcome change for a Brit craving a sandwich!

So as you can imagine, the local pub lunch now seems rather uninspiring...I loved being able to eat out so much and really hope to try lots of new restaurants in Madrid. 

I have been at home for just under 2 weeks now and am already itching to go again, helped by my parent's reluctance to turn the heating on for more than 2 hours per day! So after the annual New Year's celebrations with family friends I'm off again; new job, new apartment to find, new flatmates, and with the small problem of a Portuguese year abroad essay to write in a Spanish speaking country, seriously regretting not doing it months ago! 

Maybe because I already know the city well, it's a lot closer and my best friends from school and uni are both there, none of it seems nearly as daunting as it did 6 months ago. At the moment I don't really see how Madrid can possibly top my amazing time in Brazil but I am sure it will be a great experience in its own way and I can't wait to start. Now just to fit 6 months packing into my Easyjet 20kg allowance, and this time I'm packing for winter...

Weekend as a Caipira

*Caipira= Redneck/country bumpkin!

I’m not going to do this blog post in ‘we did this then we did this’ format as it's getting a bit repetitive and to be honest we didn't "do" that much apart from lounging around the pool!

We spent last weekend at my friend's parents' house in Araraquara, deep in the interior of São Paulo state.  A little bit of background...São Paulo city is the capital of Sao Paulo state. It is the size of France and if it were a country, it would be the 19th richest in the world, ahead of every country in South America with the obvious exception of Brazil itself. It has a population of 41.25 million, two thirds that of the UK, an idea of just how huge Brazil is!!

São Paulo flag

Araraquara is situated in the centre of São Paulo state, 277km from the capital. It has a population of 220,000 which makes it a "small" city by Brazilian standards! It is also known as the Orange city because the majority of the country's orange farms are located nearby giving the city a distinct orange-y smell!

These are my top 3 highlights from the weekend; not surprisingly all food and drink related!

1. Visiting a typical Brazilian village called Bueno de Andrada and sampling its famous coxinhas douradas,apparently the best in Brazil!

The queue for the famous coxinhas...

Coxinha love...

2. Drinks at the local cachaçaria. 

Possibly my favourite caipirinha to date! Instead of cachaça I had it with saquê, Japanese rice wine that is very popular in Brazil and is also a very good option for Brits not used to the extremely strong cachaça!

Kiwi Caipisaquê

3. Visit to a fazenda 

We visited the Salto Grande Fazenda for a traditional interior Sunday lunch and it definitely didn't disappoint, with every possible Brazilian dish on offer from Feijão Tropeiro to the delicious homemade Romeu and Julieta cheesecake.

Definitely in need of some post-lunch exercise we went on walk through the forest, alarmingly passing a menacing looking iguana until we reached the Salto Grande cachoeira. 

After relaxing for a while, we started to feel slightly less stuffed and walked back to the fazenda to have a last look around before we headed back to Sao Paulo...

Sunset on the journey home...

This week's highlights included more runs in Ibirapuera Park, cocktails at a speakeasy bar,subastor‎, and a Brazilian film première!

At the premiere of the Brazilian film, 'Crô'!

This weekend is a feriado(bank holiday)which means one thing in Brazil.... Beach time!!

Back in the Cidade Maravilhosa

I am going to jump a few weeks as otherwise I feel like I am constantly playing catch up and the blog starts to become a chore...All I can say is that I have had the most amazing few weeks and will write about what I got up to when everything is a little less hectic!

Last weekend me and 3 friends headed to Rio after work. We all packed into a little Fiat 500 and hit the road as early as possible to try and avoid the traffic leaving São Paulo. Obviously it wasn't early enough, it is never early enough, the traffic is 24/7 in São Paulo. If you think the tube is congested in London have a look at this video of the São Paulo metro that I take on my nightly commute to teach English...!

Yes, people run full pace and it was actually relatively quiet compared to usual!

Anyway, once we finally got out of the city the journey was relatively uneventful. We had to stop on the edge of one of Rio's most notorious favelas for petrol which probably wasn't the most sensible move, but we survived to tell the story and arrived at our hostel just after midnight. Due to booking only a couple of days before we didn't have much choice regarding accommodation...We chose Che Lagarto just off Ipanema beach...not a good choice as we soon discovered when we were greeted by two cockroaches on the way to our room!

Feeling hungry and tired we dumped our stuff and walked a few blocks to a welcoming looking bar/restaurant. Once we had demolished pasteis, chicken sandwiches and drunk some Cerveja Bohemia everyone unsurprisingly cheered up.

After a lot more Bohemia we headed back to the hostel changed into swim stuff and headed to Ipanema beach for a midnight paddle! Sitting on the deserted beach with friends who I've grown so close to, it suddenly hit me how sad I am going to be when I have to leave in 6 weeks time. I am determined to make the most of every day that I have left.

Deserted Ipanema Beach, with the lights of Vidigal favela in the distance

The next day we packed a lot in (thanks to Rafa's planning!)...First we went for a walk around the centre, an area that has improved dramatically due to heavy investment for the World Cup. We had breakfast at Café Colombo, the first padaria in Brazil, we then visited the odd-looking modern cathedral where the pope gave mass during his recent visit, the municipal theatre, the BNDES building and the Petrobras headquarters.

Café Colombo

Afterwards we took the cable car up Sugarloaf Mountain, something that I regretted not doing last time I was in Rio. The view at the top was breathtaking, even if the weather was not the best.

On the way to Sugarloaf Mountain...

Almost there

View from the cable car

Cable car selfie!

After lots of photos we headed back down the mountain and drove to Gula Gula for a late lunch; a chain of restaurants in Rio. I 
wish they were in São Paulo too, I would have happily eaten there everyday!!

My meal was a glorified plate of mashed potato, not quite what I had intended to order but it was yummy!

Feeling rejuvenated we headed for the beach where there was an interstate futevôlei(volleyball but not using your hands!) competition taking place. A lot of fun to watch with a great atmosphere and we were given caps and batecos to cheer on our favourite team!

After running off our lunch on the beach we headed to the supermarket to eat some dinner! Yes there are often restaurants in supermarkets! We had a chicken and catupiry pizza followed by a chocolate and strawberry pizza, sweet pizzas are definitely one of Brazil's best inventions!! We returned to the hostel to pre-drink and got chatting to our roommates from Goiânia (a city in another state in the Brazil's interior) and at around 12AM headed out...

The next morning, all feeling a little worst for wear we checked out of the hostel and went for lunch in another Gula Gula, this time in Ipanema, which was even better than the first one. We then headed to the beach for the last time for some relaxation before the long journey back to São Paulo. We returned around midnight, exhausted but still buzzing from the most amazing weekend. 

Sunday afternoon at Ipanema...

Thanks for the best weekend guys, bring on the next one!

This weeks highlights included a run in Parque Ibirapuera, dinner at a great Japanese restaurant, my amazing English student buying me copious amounts of ice cream and Starbucks and a relaxing weekend spent at a friend's house in Jundiaí(a city an hour from São Paulo)...My life is going to seem seriously boring when I return!

Salvador: Day 2

We found supper in the cutest little restaurant called Cafélier which looked more like someone's sitting room than a restaurant. It had an impressive collection of antiques and the most beautiful views over Salvador's port. My mum tried her first caipirinha, which was a big hit, after which the real gossiping began! I realised just how much I had missed it, Skype just isn't the same. 

After supper we listened to some Samba from our hotel balcony! 

The next day at breakfast my mum read the guidebook to me while I ate! These were just some of the things on offer:

We packed a lot into our day. The São Francisco convent, the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim and chopp and coxinhas at Barra beach were some of the highlights. 

Convent of São Francisco

Convent of São Francisco

Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim 

Sunday at the beach...

Salvador: Day 1

Ok so I have had a lapse from writing here recently but I am jumping back on the bandwagon and am going to try very hard to stay on it! I have been super busy trying to catch up with English lessons and stuff that I missed during my week away, while trying to catch up with everyone and have also vaguely been starting to think about my year abroad essay, which is obviously not going well. How on earth do you find the motivation to write a boring essay when you're in a city with as much going on as São Paulo?!

Last Saturday I woke up at 4:30 to take the metro and then the bus to meet my mum at São Paulo airport. It felt like Christmas morning I was so excited and when my alarm went off I was already awake! However when I got up it was still dark...I still get confused by the seasons here! I looked online where it said that the sun wasn't due to rise until 5:30. Walking to the metro in the dark alone laden down with luggage is not the best idea in any big city in the world let alone São Paulo so I begrudgingly caught up on some TV for an hour! 

At 5:30 I took the metro across São Paulo to the largest bus terminal in Latin America, Rodoviária do Tietê. From their I took the outrageously priced executive coach to Guarulhos Airport. Even my thrifty tendencies thought better than taking the normal city bus at that time in the morning.

I was reunited with my mother in the glamourous location that is Sao Paulo international airport. They seriously need to invest in refurbishments, it looks like how I would imagine a prison in the sixties. I am working in the transport sector in the consulate so have become rather opinionated about these things!

We had 7 hours to wait in Guarulhos before our flight to Salvador, Bahia. After chatting about every possible topic and generally putting the world to rights we realised we still had 4 hours to wait. My mum then noticed there was an earlier flight and came up with the ingenious idea of trying to switch on to it. 

Within an hour we had taken off. We realised the reason why we had probably been able to get the last two seats on the plane; I was sat next to a man that took up more of my seat than I did. I had go on to my mum's seat to avoid being engulfed in his rolls of fat. Fortunately he moved into an empty row once we had taken off. After whispering that people like that really should pay for two seats we rather awfully realised that he was American when he answered his phone on the bus to the terminal. I guess you can never be too careful, he was probably the only other English speaker on the plane!

Flying over São Paulo state

Landing in Salvador

We paid our R$1,20 (33p) and boarded the bus along with what seemed like the rest of the city, it was heaving with people even climbing in through the windows in attempt to get a seat! After an hour of stopping every 500 metres and being offered every type of food under the sun (in Salvador food sellers come on to the bus!) we finally arrived at our stop and took a short taxi to the hotel.

The hotel was just as I had hoped, a beautiful colonia-style building, restored but not over-done, with a few necessary luxuries like air-con! After a much needed nap we headed out to explore and more importantly find dinner.

Home for the next three days

More to come soon...

Attempting to be a bit more cultured today...The plan is go to two of the most important museums in Brazil; the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and the Museu da Língua Portuguesa, which I am embarassed to say I still haven't visited after living here for over 2 months. Then later, I am going out for belated birthday celebrations with the guys from work, a much more important type of culture! Have a great weekend x

Ubatuba

Last weekend we went to a place that I have wanted to visit for a very long time, Ubatuba, the surf capital of Brazil!

It's a bit of a long trip for a weekend but the weather forecast was perfect and I had just been paid for my evening teaching job so it was now or never! After a quick stop at a cafe on Paulista for a super unhealthy breakfast of Brigadeiro cake, Vanessa and her sister picked us up at the metro station and we took the marginal out of São Paulo. 

After the usual two-hour delays due to traffic we finally arrived. We dropped our stuff at the hostel and headed straight for the beach! The first beach we chose was called Itamambuca, around a 15 minute drive from the centre. It was without a doubt one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. 

We arrived starving after the long journey so immediately headed to the beach bar. We ordered an ice-cold Brahma followed by camarão and chips, typical Brazilian beach food but maybe not the best for our plans to swim afterwards!!

The rest of the day was spent doing absolutely nothing...

We stayed until sunset, and it was definitely worth the wait. I tried to capture it on the camera but it never comes out as good as you hope.

Vanessa cartwheeling in the sunset

My not quite so elegant attempt!!

We stayed until the beach was deserted...

In need of a sugar boost following our hectic day (!), we headed to the centre for an ice cream at the famous Sorveteria Napoli.

When we got back to the hostel there were already people cooking in the kitchen. We cracked open a bottle of wine and introduced ourselves. Like all the best hostels, there were people from every corner of the world, all with amazing stories to tell,with which the copious supplies of caipirinha only improved as the night went on! Before we realised it was 1AM, Vanessa partied on and I called it a night!!

For me breakfast is definitely the most important indicator of a good hostel and this one did not fail to disappoint! The best tropical juices, fresh pão francês, coconut cake, homemade goiaba jam and Toddy (the Brazilian equivalent of Nesquik!)were just a few of the things to choose from! After eating enough to make absolutely certain that we wouldn't need to buy lunch we set off for the town bus station. 

When we thought it would be impossible to top the beach from the day before we arrived at Praia Félix. It was different to Itamambuca, surrounded by thick forest, but it was equally, if not more beautiful. 

Watching the surfers made me really wish I'd hired a board, especially as the water was like a warm bath compared to the Scottish and Cornish beaches that I'm used to! I will definitely be surfing next time...

The day only got better when Vanessa went for a walk and brought back a coconut!!

After what felt like no time, it was time to head back to São Paulo...My estimation of the hostel went up again when the owner gave us a lift to the bus station in his pick-up! Even the fact that the journey back to São Paulo took 8 hours when it was meant to take 3 couldn't dampen our spirits. 

Thanks for the best weekend Ubatuba.